Night Vale, a quaint desert town where strange lights hover over the neighborhood Arby's, the secret police is always watching, and something might always try to kill you.
What is "Welcome to Night Vale"? Is it a coded message sent from beyond the stars through our radio waves? Is it a government conspiracy to keep us all in the dark? Maybe. What we know for sure is that “Welcome to Night Vale” (WTNV) is a bi-monthly podcast broadcasted as a local community radio show from the town of Night Vale, located in Who Knows Where, USA. WTNV premiered last year, but skyrocketed in popularity only this summer. Each episode is 20 minutes long, with a song break in each. The host, Cecil, informs his beloved listeners of all the goings-on in their lovely town. Careful getting too comfortable while listening to his dulcet voice, since it’s been known to lull some to sleep. Cecil can switch from calm and cool to a ominous and threatening in a second, just like the town he lives in.
Night Vale isn't your average town, oh no. There's the Dog Park, where, instead of dogs, there are plenty of mysterious hooded figures, who definitely do not exist according to the city council. PTA meetings are occasionally interrupted by pterodactyl attacks, and sentient glow clouds can one day attack the city and the next have a spot on the school board. And never forget the malevolent omnipresence of the city council. They’re always watching. Always.

On WTNV, none of these things are treated as out of the ordinary. The nonchalance of the town's residents toward all the definitely weird occurrences is what keeps the unique story from becoming some cheesy horror plot. There's a perfect balance between the certifiably strange and the mundane daily life of a small town. You want to be weirded out or scared, but Cecil makes it all sounds so normal, there's only a tendril of dread in the back of your mind, always wondering if things can get worse. Amidst some genuinely horrifying events that no one seems to fathom as being that, there are still regular daily tasks. Cecil talks about constructions jobs and traffic, and there’s the occasional advertisement and shout-out to Good Samaritans. There are also elections and fundraisers. Though, voting wrong sends you to lifelong quarantine and pulling out a certain ticket at the annual fundraiser could get you sacrificed to wolves. No biggie.
I have a painfully short attention span, so listening to a 20-minute podcast is not something I’d usually be able to do. But with WTNV, I’m fully focused the entire time. [There’s something exciting and unique going on in every episode and it’s very easy to get caught up in the drama of small town politics. Not to mention the incredibly diverse and very memorable cast of characters, including Old Woman Josie with her angels that do household chores and Steve Carlsberg, what a jerk. There are unique storylines and identifiers for everyone. These characters have infrequent but recurring mentions, which tie the episodes together and invest you in the daily life of Night Vale. You get to know them by their short stories, and remember them easily the next time they’re mentioned, “Oh it’s John Peters, you know, the farmer”. Almost like they’re really your neighbors.
The humor in WTNV is dark, dry, and thankfully not blatant and slapstick, keeping it from becoming a horror-movie parody. It’s the kookiness of this dystopian town and the sometimes ridiculously casual statements Cecil makes, like talking about his facebook or bashing on a rival town’s basketball team, that lighten the mood and keep things from seeming like failed sleepover horror stories.

WTNV’s presentation as a radio show gives the podcast a very personal touch, causing you to feel as if you were a citizen of Night Vale yourself. You are living in the story and simply tuning in to listen to the nightly talk show of your town. This unique, involving style pulls you even deeper into the world. There are weather updates (“the sky will be mauve today”), a community calendar (“secret police vs. fire department baseball game next Sunday”), and frequent talk of Cecil’s personal life. Cecil has a giant schoolgirl crush on Night Vale’s newest scientist, the beautiful Carlos, with his perfect, perfect hair. Which leads me to say how absolutely amazing the representation and equality is on this show. Not only is Carlos a person of color, but his relationship with Cecil is also treated as adorable, sweet, and nothing out of the ordinary. The show has great race inclusion. There is no “white by default” labeling for any of the characters, and some of the angels are canonically black. One character, the Apache Tracker—“just a white dude in a cartoonishly offensive headdress”—is frequently called out for being an “an asshole” and a “racist embarrassment" to the town. There are also some major female characters, like the mayor, that aren’t instantly killed off or overly sexualized.

This show gives some stunning material to create great surrealistic imagery in your mind and never fails to come up with an original and always intriguing plot . I’m always excited to enter the world of Night Vale, thought I probably wouldn't survive long if I lived there. By order of the city council, go listen. And remember, the Dog Park does not exist.
WTNV is available for a free download on iTunes